The Great Touring Debate
Tuesday, February 26th, 2008Jim asks, “Your Death Valley Tour included BOB & Nomad trailers and panniers. What is your take on the great touring debate about the best form of conveyance for self-contained touring gear”
I’m hardly qualified to render a judgment on panniers vs. trailers but I was very pleased with the Nomad’s performance.
Actually we had a third type of trailer. Doug had an extra wheel. The Bobs and the Extra wheel both use large yellow waterproof bags which I like. The Bobs have just one large bag, but it is convenient to pick up and carry into a motel room. This one large bag opens like a satchel. The extra-wheel uses two such yellow bags configured like panniers on the extra wheel. They are more like duffels and open at one end. Convenient for carrying into a motel but not so convenient when trying to find something unless you are far more organized than seems possible on a tour.
The Nomad does have waterproof covering, but is by no means waterproof. Corners are open and the bottom actually has eyelets. The instructions tell you to line it with plastic. In practice, none of this is a problem if you prepackage your gear in plastic zip locks. I bought the gallon size which worked just fine for a t-shirt, socks, and pair of underwear. Or a jersey, riding shorts, and socks. This makes things easier to find and provides waterproofing. Since everything I had was in a bag of some type, water proofing wasn’t an issue. But it would have been nice to be able to take the whole thing into the motel which wasn’t practical. I could have brought a bag, but that would have been more weight.
The inline single wheel trailers seemed to have more issues with stability than the Nomad. The two Bobs reported some fishtailing as the trailer tried to do its own thing.
Doug didn’t say much about the Extrawheel but he probably had the same experience. You’d need something like this if you expected to do much single-track, though.
That being said, the nomad was almost unnoticeable. I did manage to turn a wheel on the high side of a bank. Doug said it ran along for about 10 feet on one wheel before falling over.
I had Steve ride behind as I followed the fog line. He said the outside wheel was about 3 to 4 inches to the left of the line. I was surprised at the number of times I expected an issue as I road closer than 3 inches to some rock or bump. I can’t remember a single other time when I ever noticed the trailer either going up or down. It was just there.
On the pavement, I usually had to check my mirror just to make sure it was there. It tracked beautifully. It is rated to carry 100 pounds so could theoretically come to 114.5 pounds of extra weight. You do notice the extra weight especially when you stop pedaling. Stopping distances are much shorter on the flat and up hill.
I was worried about stopping going downhill but that never seemed to be a problem. I think the nomad actually gave me more stability in the soft sand going down hill. I’d just lay completely off the brakes and let the bike roll through. Those 29ers are good for that kind of thing too.
On pavement with a rumble strip, you might have a problem. It could be difficult to straddle the rumble strip and keep your bike off it at the same time. This might force you more into the traffic lane. We didn’t see much traffic but I’ve read that the presence of a trailer actually encourages motorists to pass with greater clearance.
Steve argues that he has never met a serious road tourist who preferred the trailer to panniers. He’s probably right. But other than the rumble strip issue, I don’t see a problem. He also claimed his panniers distributed weight (he had a front rack installed) that acutally gave him an advantage going up those steep climbs in soft gravel. Given that he is usuallly slowest and was certainly undertrained, I’d say there might be something to his story.
I preferred the trailer because I am not a tourist. I might want to occasionally tour or make a trip to the market, but I don’t see myself as a tourist. To me mounting racks for panniers mars the appearance of the bike, adds weight when you don’t need the racks, and spoils the aesthetic of the ride. I can slip in the skewer hitch and attach the trailer in about 5 minutes. I’m unlikely to do much road touring or off-road touring. We’ll probably give it a try on the Galloping Goose.
If pulling a trailer marks me as an eternal novice tourist, so be it.
PS: I suspect Steve will won’t to chime in on this and since I don’t allow comments (too much spanm) on this blog, I’d like to see the comments at twinriverscyclists@googlegroups.com. Yes you have to be a subscriber. Hurry on over to the sidebar on the left and hit subscribe.
-Corrie
Sara Carrigan of Australia reacts after winning the women’s cycling road race on August 15, 2004 during the Athens 2004 Summer Olympic Games.
The height of your bike effects the length of your folded Click-Stand. For taller bikes, or as an option, the Classic can be made in five segments. You may choose this option at check out. Email, and I will tell you exactly how long your folded Click-Stand will be. 
The first road hazard I ever fell victim to on a bicycle was a storm drain with openings that ran parallel to the road. I picked myself up, danced around as I waited for my road-burned palms to cool off, and said to myself, “I’ll never do that again.”
Registration for RAMROD is managed with a lottery because they always get more applicants than the Park Service will allow for an event. For this reason I’d suggest that if our group is interested we should volunteer to help with this year’s ride and we will receive a guaranteed entry for 2009, that’s the only way a group can be assured of getting everyone in. It would make a great weekend get away too because you could stay at Crystal Mountain ski area (Clare loved it) and take advantage of beautiful scenery, hiking, bike riding, and low summer rates, or camp at White River camp ground in the park and then staff a food station for a few hours during RAMROD ( I really appreciated those smiling faces handing out chocolate eclaires last summer!) The group could actually do a ride the next day from Crystal Mountain to Sunrise on Mt. Rainier which would be the most scenic section of last year’s ride and cut out 60 miles and all the 12% grades .
On Sunday I published the “Ultimate top 10 list of Top 10 bicycling lists.” Later I realized that I really didn’t care for “No. 9, Top 10 Bicycle Websites.”
Everybody likes Top 10 lists. It gets us thinking about a topic and wondering why some items were picked over others.
Joe Kurmaskie isn’t exactly the poet laureate of bicycle tourists; he’s more like the comic laureate.I caught Kurmaskie’s very entertaining talk at the Seattle Bike Expo, and I’m happy to see he’s returning for another